Andy Priaulx:
From a physical point of view I don’t believe it will be much different, but its always nice to actually get out of the car, think about the race and think things like ‘I could get more out of the set-up here’ and also plan the second race in more detail.
The car is only outside Parc Ferme for 15 minutes so the team still has the same time to prepare the car but it allows us all to think about to be more precise and more efficient in that 15 minutes. For example, if we have had an off and damaged the car, we can get all the parts ready and built up and then just bolt it straight onto the car when it comes out of Parc Ferme. I think it will mean there are more cars on the grid for the second race which is important.
Q:
Difficult one to answer in mid-January when the season is still a while away, but how confident are you of making it four titles in a row and a hat-trick of world crowns?
Andy Priaulx:
I respect my competitors too much to forecast that. All I want to do is continue to improve as a driver and improve as an individual. If I do that, then I’m sure I can fight for another title. In the last four years I have set the level, not just in the last three [title winning] years as in the first year I nearly won the championship and started winning races in the second half of that season. It is one thing being chased and another thing being the chasing pack.
I have to set my level as high as possible, because everyone is trying to get to my level and I have to keep moving forward. I talked about how important it is to keep progressing and that is what I have to try and do.
